Headphone Burn-in doesn't exist

[CognitiveBiased]

Quote:

 
But it doesn't really amaze you, does it? These people seemingly make up 30% of the population. They are the same people that buy homeopathy treatments.

 
Well put. It doesn't so much amaze me as much as it makes me cringe in horror each time one of them uses the words "proved" incorrectly. As in : "Once, after 40 days and 40 nights of pink noise, I tested my new headphones and compared them to some tracks I listened for the last time a year ago, and I could clearly notice huge improvements in sound stage, headroom, as well as blacker blacks and liquider colors, so it clearly proved how much burn-in is important to reveal the full power of your headphones."

 

[CognitiveBiased]

Stop the pink noise, and turn up some Pink Floyd!

 

[Chromako]

TL;DR warning!
 
Let's just be careful about ad-hominem arguments here... That gets us nowhere. and we discredit ourselves by assuming we are infallible, and we have tested all situations. 
 
Also remember that snake-oil can be effective. It's called Placebo- and it makes a real difference in our enjoyment of stuff. Therefore, IMHO, it matters. Burn-in in some (or most) situations might be silly, but it isn't hurting anyone. And uber fancy cables help the economy. That sort of thing. Homeopathic garbage does hurt people, as when you make yourself and others ill from it, society ends up paying the price. /rant
 
That being said, mechanically, any moving part will change over time. The question, as you are putting it aptly, is if it's audible. Various headphones will have different responses. They use different driver materials, geometries, and winding tightness, that sort of thing. Yes, "burn-in" will occur, always. It's physics. But is it audible? (And no, I don't think a roadie for a rock band is a credible source as his hearing has to have been compromised over the career.)
 
Personal experience: My Audio-Technica A900's didn't have audible burn-in, My Shure 530's didn't, either, though I did it out of peace of mind- I'm the sort of person who needs the unused air vents in my car to be facing the same direction, and I worry a lot.  Anyway, burn in is so easy to do, but I doubt it did anything in those cases. 
 
But my Beyer DT880's certainly did. They were simply awful at the start (and I highly doubt that my "getting used to them" could be an issue, I listened to them for about 10 minutes when I received them, and then didn't listen again until throwing some pink noise into them. And no, I don't think it has to be pink noise, but it was less obtrusive to hear as they leak sound a lot.) And I did control as well as I could for temperature and the such. 
 
Conclusion: It depends. That's just physics. Usually, I would say, it's not audible. Now, burn-in of solid state stuff that's more than temperature cycling...  that's... don't get me started. But that's not what we are talking about now. 

 

[Happy Camper]

Live and let live is my motto. When people get told otherwise, there's friction. No one is losing anything by doing a break in or any other ritual. So being told how (pick your degrading word) it is, just introduces arrogance of opinion.


I think it's mostly antagonists using these topics to argue. There should be a "Debate" forum for them as our other threads don't need the static.

 

[preproman]

Has this been discussed.
 
Is there a difference in burn in for:
 
Planar Magnetics
 
E-Stats
 
Dynamics
 
Which one benefits from burn in the most?

 

[MrTechAgent]

I really don't know how one could possibly have a doubt , its noticeable at least for the Headphones I have owned.
It generally does not exist in portable/non-HiFi headphones but still.
Said by Grado - "Headphones performance will improve in respect to time" 

 

[xnor]

Quote:

I really don't know how one could possibly have a doubt , its noticeable at least for the Headphones I have owned.
It generally does not exist in portable/non-HiFi headphones but still.
Said by Grado - "Headphones performance will improve in respect to time" 

Lack of evidence.
 
It doesn't matter what Mr. Grado or anybody else said. Even smart people say dumb things.

 

[MrTechAgent]

Quote:

Lack of evidence.
 
It doesn't matter what Mr. Grado or anybody else said. Even smart people say dumb things.

Sir !
I don't even own a Grado nor do I believe in what he states its just that there is a difference at least with my 650's and v6.
Can't I have a opinion ?

 

[xnor]

Sure you can, just say so. But keep in mind that Sound Science is probably not the best place to share personal experiences. We're looking for what's going on objectively.

 

[MrTechAgent]

Quote:

Sure you can, just say so. But keep in mind that Sound Science is probably not the best place to share personal experiences. We're looking for what's going on objectively.

Will keep that in mind

 

[Happy Camper]

[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnTmBjk-M0c[/VIDEO]

 

[xnor]

Quote:
 
And the analogy is that Cleese (on the right) is like those guys constantly saying that they "most definitely" heard a difference?

 

[ab initio]

Quote:

 
And the analogy is that Cleese (on the right) is like those guys constantly saying that they "most definitely" heard a difference?

No, not at all. Those guys could be hearing differences in their spare time.

 

[iancraig10]

I've had burn OUT on my Koss Portapros.
 
I never noticed until I thought I'd buy a new one for work and keep a spare at home. (They're so cheap) The new one had a lot more treble than the old which sounded quite muffled by comparison. This has happened twice now with Portapros - the second pair went the same way.
 
Burn IN with Superlux HD681f
 
From new, it had no bass and sounded like a really bad iem. I was going to send them straight back actually but left them playing music (accidentally) for half and hour. Before I packed them up, I had another listen. There was bass. (Almost like a bass speaker had been connected and not subtle). I checked the first track that I had been listening to with no bass and this time it was fine.
 
Other than that, I've never noticed headphones change, but in the case of the Superlux and Portapro, the changes seemed quite dramatic. A friend of mine had the same experience with the same model from Superlux as well.

 

[xnor]

All PortaPros and HD681s I've heard, regardless if new or old, are muffled and have (imho, can't stand boosted treble) nasty treble respectively.
 
If you listen to one of those for a couple of minutes it starts to become acceptable, but switching to the other then shows the problems quite clearly.
Additionally, the PP pads are made from cheap foam similarly to the PX100 pads which will deteriorate rather quickly and change the frequency response. Oh and just placing the PPs slightly differently on your ears can give you 5 dB less sub bass.